Saturday 26 April 2014

W is for Steve Winwood


More than 30 years ago my attempts to get my first job in newspapers were meeting little success and then I got two offers - one for a paper in the north of England and one in the South-West. I headed west ("Go West, young man" etc etc) and in the words of Robert Frost's famous poem The Road Not Taken "that has made all the difference".

It's a tempting game to play where you wonder "what if?" and it's too easy to view certain decisions as turning points, but I think my decision to head to Devon was important and much of what is most significant in my life followed directly and indirectly from that decision.

Steve Winwood fits in here because in 1980, the year I got that vital first job on a paper, his first solo single While You See A Chance was in the charts. He has had an illustrious career and played a part in many great singles, but this one remains a favourite and seems quite fitting to the way I was thinking at the time.

The video is worth watching if only for the strange antics of the two people in the gimp suits.


Also-rans: The Who and in particular their album Quadrophenia. I tried to sing like Roger Daltrey, usually after a certain amount of drink had been taken, but the truth is nobody can sing like Roger Daltrey except the man himself. A feisty legend to this day, as far as I'm concerned. Also, yes, two Also-Rans today, Andy Williams singing Can't Take My Eyes Off You. This featured in a bar scene in Michael Cimono's The Deer Hunter which is one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite films.

8 comments:

  1. Interesting. I want to hear more of your stories heading west and taking the road not taken. Visiting form A to Z

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  2. I don't think I realized Steve Winwood sang that! I was 10 when that song was out, while I was a teenager when his other songs were on the charts...so I never pieced it together until now!

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  3. Love Steve Winwood. I'm going to miss your posts when the month is over.

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    1. Well, you'll have to keep visiting and see what else I go on about!

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  4. Ah, the What ifs?? They can either haunt you or fulfill you. Dreaming about the What ifs can lead to some wonderful creativity. Drowning in What ifs not so much. :) Great Steve Winwood video. Love that song! Good post!

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    1. What if and if only. Seductive phrases that can lead you to spend a lot of time daydreaming.

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  5. Music fanatic here; so glad I found your blog! ☺ We saw Steve Winwood most recently last December, opening for Rod Stewart. Very enjoyable set with a more jazz/blues vibe than previous shows. We also saw The Who perform Quadrophenia last February. Roger and Pete were in fine form that night.
    Debbie @The Doglady's Den

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  6. I've always loved Steve Winwood.

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